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Joseph Stein: Make federal moratorium permanent

Posted:
06/26/2016 11:55:23 PM MDT

In January, the Secretary of the Interior halted all federal coal leasing on public lands. Currently, the secretary is reviewing federal coal leasing policy in order to create an assessment of the potential environmental, social, and economic impacts of the coal leasing policy in order to decide 1) whether or not to begin selling new leases to coal companies and 2) what new coal leasing policy should look like in order to maximize economic and environmental benefits.

Proponents of the coal moratorium point out that even traditionally coal-dependent countries like China have cut their dependence on coal in the wake of unmitigated pollution and a global climate crisis. Opponents of the moratorium argue that the coal industry provides jobs and economic benefits to working-class towns in need. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 56,700 Americans are employed in coal mining, down from 80,000 in 2014. These workers are drawn to coal because jobs are aplenty — the U.S. still gets one-third of its energy from coal.

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Coal companies claim that we cannot replace the jobs they provide with jobs in the green energy industry. The data says something different: worldwide, there are more jobs in renewables than coal mining, oil, and gas combined. As fossil fuel jobs dry up, workers are turning to the solar sector. There are already twice as many solar workers in the U.S. as there are coal miners — 31,000 new solar jobs were created in 2014 alone. With wise energy-production policy centered around green subsidies, we could create thousands of jobs, effectively nullifying the job loss experienced during the inevitable and necessary divestment from fossil fuel-based energy.

Clean air and a thriving economy need not be mutually exclusive goals. We, as Americans, must implement wise policy that will create jobs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and restore America's status as a global energy leader. The first step is making the coal moratorium on federal lands permanent.

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